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THE WENCHES CRISIS RESPONSE

D ractice Perfect To best prepare for a crisis, drill!

DIANE GAGE LOFGREN & JOHN NELSON

-f) diane.gage-lofgren@kp.org

^ john.e.nelson@kp.org

B y its very definition, a crisis is no time to get on-the-job training. It's a time of intense pressure

when systems are strained, weaknesses are amplified and crucial decisions must be made on the spot. A blown first impression can leave a lasting mark—and be difficult to correct. The best way to handle a crisis is to be prepared for one, and the best way to do that is to practice. In other words, drill.

Crisis drills are a critical part of health care communications success, especially in the age of social media. Crises are more frequent now because of the com- plexity and increasing transparency of today's environment, and the ramifica- tions are instantly known in one contin- uous news cycle. The Internet and social media have created more moving parts and accelerated the making or breaking of reputations during a crisis.

During crisis drills, organizations con- duct training to practice ways to protect the brand whue informing the public in the event of a crisis. Drills allow orga- nizations to practice making decisions and engaging stakeholders in response

to the unexpected. They help to critique individuals and responses before there's real reputational skin in the game so that when the time comes, teams are prepared to respond in real time. Hosting crisis trainings is critically important, even for the most veteran issues manager.

A Dnll That Produces Results To run a good simulation, leaders must create a crisis scenario that includes meaningful, challenging and realistic ele- ments for the team to practice. In a recent crisis drill. Kaiser Permanente designed a scenario that was fictional but ground- ed fuUy in reality, and it evolved and escalated over time. Participants initially were faced with what appeared to be a medical error, but the crisis quickly grew to include elements of medication abuse, compliance failures, union concerns and political sensitivity. This scenario was played out over the course of 90 minutes and was very carefully planned to engage crisis communicators who share accountability but work in nine different states.

When the drill was over, a thorough debrief was conducted. All participants shared their learnings, which ranged from social media eye-openers to re- newed awareness around the speed that information and misinformation travel.

Here are some proven processes to help you and your organization plan an effec- tive crisis drill:

1. Know your focus. The planning phase is one of the most important parts of a simulation. Before coming up with a scenario, teams should decide on the set of skills, structures or other elements that they want to test. It's not necessary to practice on all aspects of a crisis. Setting up a scenario that is overly broad, especially if the drill is only an hour or two, is guaranteed to make it too superficial. Conversely, a training that is too narrowly focused, requiring too deep a dive into one issue or process, could fail to engage all participants and could appear too artificial. Most drills planned at Kaiser Permanente last between 90 minutes and a full day, and typically last less than half a day.

2. Determine how to measure success. Once a focus is decided, the next step in designing a scenario is to decide how the results will be measured. What should participants walk away with? Is it experience, education, awareness or knowledge? While training for the sake of gaining experience is not a bad goal, consider maximizing the investment of time and effort by ensuring that specific activities are tested and measured. Is there a desire to practice and uncover gaps in a team's timing or nimbleness, or to offer an experience that tests the quality of the organization's messaging response? Should both timing and

12 MARKETING HEALTH SERVICESSPRING 2013

quality be measured? This helps determine if the drill has met the goals that you set out to achieve.

3. Teams should accept that not all aspects of the drill will be realistic. Make it as realistic as possible, but remember that it's just a drill, so it will not be perfect. Don't get bogged down with logistics, but use the drill as a learning experience. If there are participants who are known to have difficulty "suspending disbelief '̂ coach them beforehand or involve them on the team doing the role-playing, rather than with those being trained.

4. The best drills are fun. Crises are stressful—especially when it comes to health care—so keep simulations positive. Find ways to break the tension by using humor. Comic relief may be added where appropriate. For example, those who are role-playing (pretending to be bloggers, reporters or politicians, say) may want to use humor to emphasize a point. Take opportunities to laugh while in the

middle of the drill. Also, allow people to step back if they are getting too stressed or upset.

5. Create a learning space where

• /

participants know that it's OK not to be perfect. No one should feel as if his or her career is on the line during an exercise. Participants need to know that it's OK to fail. In fact, a little failure helps people remember not to make those same mistakes when the real thing happens. The goal should be visibly focused on, and supportive of, learning.

6. Determine how to use what is learned to improve. Evaluate the drill after it's complete. Things tend to pop up that may not have occurred to the team previously. Make sure to take note of these items to discuss after the drill is over and then come up with what will be done differently next t i m e . MHS

•«• DIANE GAGE LOFGREN is Chief communica-

tion officer and senior vice president of brand com- munication, and JOHN NELSON is vice president of brand communication at Kaiser Permanente.

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We know that the best ideas come from working together and truly understanding what makes your hospital different. We want to collaborate, not frustratf Give Paul Pomerov a call, 800.848.1552, or email hirn

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